Thoughts on Ant-Man and the Wasp – Spoilers ahead

**WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST INCLUDES SPOILERS FOR ANT-MAN AND THE WASP. YEAH, I KNOW THE FILM HAS BEEN ON RELEASE FOR A MONTH AROUND THE WORLD, SO NO DOUBT A SPOILER WARNING IS A MOOT POINT BY NOW, BUT THE MOVIE HAS ONLY JUST OPENED IN THE UK, SO I FEEL A SPOILER WARNING IS NEEDED. ANYWAY, SPOILERS AHEAD.**

This morning I popped along to the cinema for a super hero double-bill of Ant-Man and the Wasp and Teen Titans GO! to the Movies. My thoughts on Teen Titans will appear in a follow-up post, but for now here’s my ten cents on the new Ant-Man movie.

As with the previous Ant-Man, I really enjoyed this new entry. Fun, humorous and pretty imaginative when it comes to the size transformation gags, there’s a lot to like about the movie.

Is it an essential Marvel movie?

No – but that’s OK.

While Ant-Man and the Wasp does progress the Scott Lang/Hank Pym story somewhat, especially with the return of Janet van Dyne – played by Michelle Pfeiffer – overall the movie feels as though it’s more of a fun diversion than a key piece of the ongoing story. I liked this, because while I am itching to know what happens next after the events of Infinity War, I’m also happy to have stories like this which just want audiences to have fun.

The beauty of Ant-Man and the Wasp, as with the original Ant-Man, is that the movie doesn’t take itself too seriously. It presents itself as a frothy summer picture, rather than an event movie like Infinity War – a palette cleanser, if you will, to keep things light following Infinity War‘s brutal conclusion.

Light is perhaps the best way to describe this movie as you never really feel like there’s any real peril involved. Sure, the characters go through difficulties, but even when things do go a little off course, there’s never that feeling that disaster is ahead.

Take the villain(s) of the movie for example; Ghost the main villain isn’t really a villain so much as a constant inconvenience. Sure, she’s got a neat power that could be very deadly, but it’s clear early on that she’s not going to exercise that power to kill the core heroes.

The same can be said for the black market thugs, who only seem to exist in order to throw a spanner in the works every so often. These guys are in the movie purely to create a persistent series of hurdles.

There’s a moment where it looks like Hank Pym’s former colleague, Bill Foster is going to turn out to be the movie’s big bad, but this is also quickly ruled out. So yeah, no real villains – but again, that’s OK, I like the fact that there’s no real villain.

The madcap hijinks of having non-threatening villains allows the film to just have fun without the need to put the world at risk. It also means this entry can exist separate from the wider events within the MCU, while allowing for a mid-credit scene that finally connects things up to Infinity War.

The big new addition this time around is of course the Wasp, who looks cool, is pretty kick-ass and makes for a great partner to Ant-Man. Big tick from me.

I really hope to see a lot more from the Wasp. I think the character compliments Ant-Man perfectly, but also has so much potential for the future.

Ghost is pretty damn cool too. I’d very much like to see more regarding this character, including her past life as a S.H.I.E.L.D operative. Did she ever cross paths with Black Widow I wonder? If so, could she appear in the oft-rumoured Black Widow movie?

And then there’s Janet van Dyne, who offers up an interesting hook for the future, which may hold some significance for the events of Avengers 4 or may simply tie into a follow-up story in a future Ant-Man movie. Her new abilities seem to suggest something bigger is on the horizon.

Oh, and what was it that Janet said about evolving in the quantum realm? Did she evolve or did she mutate to get her new powers?

Hmm… didn’t Ghost’s quantum phasing powers seem similar to the X-Men character, Kitty Pryde? Could the quantum realm be responsible for mutations?

I’m not saying the quantum realm has anything to do with the creation/introduction of mutants into the MCU, something that will need to be addressed in the future, but it’s at least worth contemplating.

So, onto the bad stuff, which…

…nah, there wasn’t really any bad stuff for me.

If I have one niggle about Ant-Man and the Wasp, it’s not with the movie itself, it’s with the trailers, which gave away 90% of all the best visual gags. Trailers spoiling movies is becoming more and more common and Ant-Man and the Wasp is no exception, so I feel the movie plays a little better if you haven’t seen any of the trailers.

But that’s not the fault of the movie or the fault of director, Peyton Reed. It’s those damn trailer cutting guys.

*Waves clenched fist in the air*

Just give us a trailer without putting all the best bits in it, will ya?!

Anyway, Marvel Studios has developed a knack for making solid crowd pleasers and Ant-Man and the Wasp is exactly that. You pay your money, you get two hours of entertainment and you don’t feel cheated – that works for me and ensures that Ant-Man and the Wasp is the perfect slice of summer fun.

7 Responses to Thoughts on Ant-Man and the Wasp – Spoilers ahead

TBH I actually preferred it to AIW. It was a 2 hour blast of fun. It was great that The Wasp was just as much, if not more so, front and centre, she definitely had one of the best action scenes. Cannot wait for the 3rd film. I’m more excited for that than AIW2.

I agree 1000% about trailers. I try to not watch the entire trailer nowadays. I get a feel for a film from the first 30 to 40 seconds and whether it’s for me. At the cinema I always go to the toilet so as not to see the trailers. It’s all about getting people to hand over their cash so the studios aren’t worried about lots of spoilers in trailers. Terminator Genysis was one of the prime examples of spoilers and I think that contributed to the poor box office because it ruined the impact of the film and in so doing those who would return to re-watch it didn’t because it made the film seem worse than it actually was.

Yeah, the worst offenders in recent years have been Terminator Genysis, Batman V Superman and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. All these films had plot points (or the entire story) ruined by the trailers.

True. I can think of only one trailer in recent months where it hasn’t given the movie away – in fact, it’s done the exact opposite. I won’t say what the movie is as you may not have seen it, but it came out this year and is not what you’d expect from the trailers.